It's been a while since I've posted something here. I recently got back into some family history work, after a dry spell. Here's the first really interesting bit that I've come across:
I was recently searching for information on Henry Peck (my sixth-great-grandfather, who lived in New Haven) and happened upon a site which lists a Henry Peck of New Haven signing onto the Frigate Trumbull in March of 1777. This was one of the first ships completed in the new Continental Navy and due to go up against the mighty British fleet during the Revolutionary War. Of course, I had to dig deeper to learn more, and to confirm whether this might actually be MY Henry Peck.
This listing, from The Record of Connecticut Men in the Military and Naval Service During the War of the Revolution, 1775-1783 (Hartford, 1889, pp598-600), shows a Henry Peck signing on as a Landsman on 2 March 1777.
The Trumbull had been built in Chatham, CT and was stuck in the Connecticut River because it had too deep a draft to get over the sandbar at the mouth of that river. Trapped there, it was considered an easy target for the British (who don't appear to have made a serious attempt to capture it). It was only floated over the bar a few years later.
After some searching online and a visit to the Boston Public Library - where, as one often does, I received excellent assistance in trying to track down such a small detail - I found another book titled Supplement to The Record of Connecticut Men, During the War of the Revolution, 1775-1783 (Baltimore, 1997). This had another crew listing (vol 2, pp365-8) for the Frigate Trumbull apparently transcribed from the same source document as The Record of Connecticut Men - and referring back specifically to the list in that book.
This supplement lists out the same men, in the same order, and gives the following additional details about Henry Peck: he was born in New Haven, shipped at New Haven at the age of 22, was 5'5", and of fair complexion.
I am now fairly well convinced that this is, indeed, MY Henry Peck... who was born in New Haven in August 1755, making him close enough to list as 22 years old in May of 1777. He was a block and spar-maker by trade, and probably had some notion of what naval life would be like.
The documents don't show when or how Henry left the ship... they list neither a date for his discharge nor for desertion. Many of the other men who joined in early 1777 were discharged after a year, so it's likely his term of service would have been up around then.
I've found one mention that Captain Saltonstall and the men from the Trumbull were able to capture some prizes during this period (perhaps using a privateer which they took over and also referred to as Trumbull). I want to check into that further.
Henry does not appear on any of the later lists of men I have been able to find, associated with the Trumbull, in particular the list of those taken prisoner by the British when the ship was captured in 1781.
There was a large group of men who left the ship in January 1778 to join the Frigate Warren (which was trapped by the British in Narragansett Bay, but soon broke past them and cruised successfully to the Caribbean, taking two prizes), and it's possible that Henry was among those men. Their leader, the 2nd Lieutenant Daniel Phipps, happens to be an indirect ancestor... he was married to Mary English, daughter of my sixth-great-grandfather Benjamin English II. Captain Saltonstall later took command of the Warren and used it to lead the disastrous Penobscot Expedition.
There's more to dig into here. I want to try and find a list of the men who signed onto the Warren in early 1778, to see if Henry Peck was among them. I'd love to get an idea of what he actually did while he was part of the Navy. There are more resources to be explored.
Henry did return to New Haven, married Hannah Lewis in 1783, and they had five children - four of whom survived to adulthood. Their daughter Esther married naval Captain Daniel Phipps (not the same man as the 2nd Lieutenant of the Trumbull, who did become a Captain as well). Their daughter Grace married Eli Mix, who had a career as a merchant in New Haven. Son Elisha Peck served in the Navy for five decades, spanning from the War of 1812 all the way up into the Civil War, and retired with the rank of Captain. So, this family was no stranger to the salt water, and now we can count Henry Peck among the naval veterans in our family tree!
I'll share more information as I learn it.
